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Remote system management of Medical Display quality control procedures

The Lecco ASST has been equipped with a new PACS (Picture Archive and Communication System) in cloud mode which makes it possible to manage the work flows and the imaging of the Imaging Department (radiology, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy), the Cardiology Department and Digestive Endoscopy, of the various hospitals. The display system with diagnostic monitors is an integral part of the Sectra PACS system implemented at the Lecco ASST.

The Lecco ASST consists of three hospitals (Lecco, Merate and Bellano), four multipurpose specialist outpatients’ clinics and other regional centres. The hospitals are equipped with 1037 beds. The Lecco ASST provides medium and high-level specialist health care services, with a turnover of around 40,000 admissions and 80,000 A&E patients attended a year.

Andra is a limited company set up in 1982 to market medical radiography products from Konica within Italy and for more than thirty years it has kept space with the technological developments of the radiology market. In 2006, for nationwide distribution, Andra with the Konica Minolta brand, joined forces with Sectra, a world leading Information Technology company in the sphere of radiology.

Sectra Imtec AB, a Swedish Multinational company, set up in 1978, develops, produces and markets PACS systems. With over 350 employees specialising in research and development, it can boast over 1,700 PACS systems installed all over the world.

The Challenge

“
Correct management of reporting quality control procedures for diagnostic monitors is an essential activity to guarantee a correct diagnosis. In view of the regional layout of the ASST, the challenge was to find a solution which could support the Health Physics Dept. responsible for the quality of the medical displays: we looked for a quality control system which could centrally collect the test data and which would allow us to perform testing in a reliable, fast and accurate way
” says Fausto Declich, Director of the Health Physics Dept.

The NEC Solution

In order to support the challenge of the ASST, the company Andra has provided the NEC GammaCompMD QA server solution, which allows centralised management of the calibration procedures of the displays and DICOM Conformance, also allowing remote support of the activities to optimise control management.

The remote control management system together with the display’s front sensors allow calibration of the display’s backlighting and the DICOM curve to be carried out. In parallel with these calibration activities, a quality control system has been implemented in accordance with regulation IEC 62563-1. All of the individual quality control reports are filed centrally on a server. If necessary, the reports are available for any requirements that may arise, for example for statistics and to prevent any technical problems.

Visual tests are also part of this quality control system, in order to check quickly and reliably any anomalies that could jeopardise the diagnosis. These tests can be performed directly by the user of the monitor by means of a Test derived from the SMPTE where each detail is easily recognisable on the image.

The Results

Implementation of the complete system was completed at the same time as the start-up of the PACS system. The monitor acceptance tests were carried out to be used as reference values for the constancy tests which are repeated once a year. In addition, besides optimising the test management times, we now also benefit from centralised filing of the reports so as to have a specific advantage, says Dr. Declich.